Keynote: Creativity, Education and Augmented Reality

Innovation may defined as a unique and new method of solving a problem. The key ingredients to innovative solutions are creativity, risk taking, prototyping and repeated failures. In order to foster creativity, educators need to reward risk taking and failed attempts, not punish them. We need to challenge students to solve problems with non-linear and unconventional processes.

The difficult problems of our world will not be solved by trying the same approach over and over again. They will require radically different methods and multiple failed attempts until the best solution is found.

This talk will present two example student design projects. The first is a radically different approach to design by blindly creating abstract forms. These forms are then transformed into useful objects, vehicles, furniture and spaces.

The second project is an exploration into the potential of augmented reality. Augmented reality uses computer technology and internet data to enhance our physical world with appropriate information. Instead of the person looking into a screen and viewing the computer world, the computer looks into our world and projects information into the human space. The students are challenged to re-imagine how humans and computers interact with each other.

Our Speaker

Jason Morris (@jasonamorris) is an associate professor of industrial design at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA.

Jason Morris

Prior to his career switch to academia, he was a consulting product designer and a principal of the design firm tool. in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He has designed award winning products for clients such as Kryptonite, Burton, Siemens, Ambient Devices, APC, Homax, Boston Scientific, MSI, Prudential, The First Years, and Waterworks. Jason earned his Master’s of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University. He has been focusing his research on industrial design history, social purpose innovation, personal fabrication, and creativity.